"BOOM—"
A thunderous roar resounded as a bolt of lightning as thick as a bucket suddenly shot down from the clouds, striking straight toward the Great Elder.
The Great Elder abruptly raised her head, blood-red light rapidly converging in front of her body.
In the next instant, the blood light dispersed. The entire sea surface exploded into dozens-of-meters-high waves that completely obscured everyone's figures, making it impossible to see what was happening inside.
Only dozens of faint souls could be seen quietly drifting upward.
That black banner once again swept over from afar, collecting all those souls into it.
High in the sky, the Myriad Soul Douluo looked down at the scene on the sea, his eyes narrowed into slits from smiling, his tone filled with excitement.
"Good, good! More, give me more!"
The Abomination Douluo beside him glanced over and spoke in a deep, muffled voice, "Stop bothering with that and hurry up to help me maintain the great formation."
"What's the rush? This is something the Great Elder personally promised me." The Myriad Soul Douluo licked his lips as he spoke. "It would be perfect if we could keep that 600,000-year Sea Princess here too."
"That would burst your martial soul." The Abomination Douluo's tone remained unchanged, yet it still earned him an annoyed glare from the Myriad Soul Douluo.
"What are you looking at? If you don't come help soon, the rest of those mermaids are going to escape."
"Coming, coming." The Myriad Soul Douluo grumbled in dissatisfaction. "The great formation is personally presided over by the Great Elder—yet you still have so much to say just for assisting from the side."
"The Great Elder brought the two of us here not so you could just watch from the sidelines. Her intention was for you to collect souls only after most of those mermaids were dead."
"Fine, fine, you're the smart one." Though the Myriad Soul Douluo complained verbally, he still circulated his soul power and poured it into the great formation beneath the sea. "The Great Elder is just a soul beast—why call her so affectionately?"
"Believe it or not, one day, when the cult disciples need it, the Holy Son will personally deal with her and turn her into soul rings and soul bones for the cult's disciples."
The Abomination Douluo looked at the great formation beneath the sea and gently shook his head. "The Great Elder is not as simple as you think."
"Tch, always taking the Great Elder's side. Don't tell me you've been charmed by her?" The Myriad Soul Douluo turned to glance at him, saw the wooden expression on the Abomination Douluo's face, and shook his head with a laugh.
"Never mind. If it were that guy Old Seven, he might really be captivated by the Great Elder's beauty. Why am I even telling you this? In your eyes, those rotting corpses are probably prettier than the Great Elder."
While the two in the sky continued their leisurely conversation, the Sea Princess on the sea surface was already splitting her eyes in rage as she watched her clansmen die before her one after another.
As the water spray settled, the Great Elder's figure slowly emerged. She had completely blocked the earlier lightning bolt and showed not the slightest injury.
The Sea Princess stepped forward, but in the next moment, another bolt of lightning descended, forcing her to halt unconsciously.
After all, she was a sea soul beast herself; the scene of her last tribulation was still vivid in her memory. Faced with this majestic might of heaven, she ultimately lacked the courage to advance further.
Looking around, dozens more mermaid figures had vanished within the great formation. The Sea Princess stared for a long time at the Heart of the Ocean in the Great Elder's hand. Finally, a trace of grief flashed in her eyes, and she turned to head outside the formation.
"Mother." A mermaid slowly approached from the side.
"Lijing, gather the remaining clansmen. Wait for me to tear open a gap in this formation—then all our people will charge out together with me."
"But the Heart of the Ocean…"
"Saving our people comes first. As for the Heart of the Ocean…" The Sea Princess glanced once more at the Great Elder. "I will sooner or later take it back from her hands."
Seeing that the Sea Princess was already leading the few remaining clansmen toward the edge of the formation, the Great Elder at this moment had no strength left to stop them.
Although she appeared to be handling it with ease, if she truly had confidence in overcoming the heavenly tribulation, she wouldn't have gone to such lengths to have Lin Xiao steal the Heart of the Ocean for her.
As another bolt of lightning fell, she finally raised the Heart of the Ocean high with both hands.
That thunderous strike capable of splitting heaven and earth crashed down. At the same moment, the Great Elder holding the Heart of the Ocean had already turned a brilliant golden color throughout her body, allowing the lightning to strike her without suffering the slightest harm.
Just as the tribulation clouds sank even lower and new lightning began to brew once more, a dazzling blue light burst forth from the Heart of the Ocean. Carrying unparalleled might, it collided head-on with the lightning.
The Sea Princess had already led the few remaining clansmen to the edge of the great formation. Sensing the power of the Heart of the Ocean once again, she couldn't help but look back.
"Mother?"
Her eldest daughter Lijing drew near.
"With the power of the Heart of the Ocean, I'm afraid she will successfully pass this tribulation." The Sea Princess sighed softly and turned her head back. "Let's go!"
With those words, crystalline blue light shone from her eyes, reflecting the blue gem embedded in her crown. Six hundred thousand years of soul power surged forth together with her spirit power, as if something invisible was tearing apart.
High in the sky, the faces of Myriad Soul Douluo and Abomination Douluo changed simultaneously.
"What are you doing?" Myriad Soul Douluo abruptly turned to look at Abomination Douluo.
Yet Abomination Douluo's expression remained largely unchanged. Instead, the Great Elder's voice rang beside their ears: "Let her go. With her cultivation, we cannot stop her."
"Yes."
Myriad Soul Douluo had only just answered when a terrifying sensation suddenly rose from beside him.
The great formation beneath the sea was jointly presided over by the Great Elder, Myriad Soul, and Abhorred—the three of them. Earlier, while there were still others inside the formation, the Great Elder could use the formation to withstand part of the tribulation's power.
But now, with no more sacrifices left inside, if the Great Elder activated the formation again, she intended to use Myriad Soul and Abomination Douluo to help her resist the heavenly tribulation.
Not just Lin Xiao and the Sea Princess's clan—in the Great Elder's eyes, anyone who could help her withstand the tribulation, even these two elders, Myriad Soul Douluo and Abomination Douluo, could be casually discarded.
The lifespan of a soul beast is exceedingly long. In ten thousand years, she would still be an elder of the Holy Spirit Church, while these humans would have long turned to dust.
"Not good—run!"
Myriad Soul Douluo reacted instantly. With a wave of his hand, he recalled his martial soul, the Myriad Soul Banner. In that brief moment, countless resentful souls had already vanished beneath the lightning.
Beside him, Abomination Douluo's figure also rapidly transformed, swelling continuously as he instantly appeared several meters away.
"Hah!"
With a loud shout, he slammed his palm heavily onto the sea surface. Soon, cracks began spreading along the opening the Sea Princess had just torn, and the entire great formation beneath the sea started to teeter on the verge of collapse.
"BOOM—"
Lightning crashed down. Myriad Soul Douluo and Abomination Douluo were sent flying backward, their entire bodies charred black.
Yet the blood-red great formation beneath the sea was completely shattered by this strike.
On the sea surface, the Great Elder stood amid waves mixed with countless fragments of flesh, staring at the tribulation clouds in the sky that had yet to disperse. Finally, her own soul power erupted forth.
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